Current wireless communication standards are based on antenna configurations including two transmission antenna elements (referred to as “2Tx antennas”) based in part on current deployment assumptions that typically rely on 2Tx antennas at an evolved node B (eNB). Many eNBs are likely to continue to include 2Tx antennas (referred to as “2Tx eNBs”) in the near future due to high costs associated with network deployment of eNBs with four antennas elements (4Tx) or eight antennas elements (8Tx). As a result, in conventional single-point, single-cell multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) transmission schemes, a maximum number of transmission layers that can be simultaneously transmitted to a user equipment (UE) is usually limited to two transmission layers. Thus, in many cases, a UE is only able to receive two downlink transmissions from a serving eNB regardless of the reception capabilities of the UE.
UEs including four reception antenna elements (referred to as “4Rx UEs”) are being developed and will likely be deployed in the near future. Because most eNBs may still include 2Tx antennas, these 2Tx eNBs may not be capable of providing full utilization, in terms of the peak data rate enhancements, for the 4Rx UEs.